Purples of Spring

There is purple all over the yard. The chives are in their puffy brilliance. Purple irises - we call them "flags" - are doing their thing in the background.

The Lilacs have just about faded along with the graceful wisteria, but as I was getting dressed this morning, I looked out the window to see this gorgeous clematis blooming on the hill behind the house.

My husband got a number of them at an end of year sale and just planted them here and there at the base of trees scattered along the hill.

They are getting to a size that they are really becoming beautiful - and what a lovely surprise.

Above the stone wall at the back of the patio, the columbines have returned this year. We were afraid we had lost them, but apparently they were just taking a short break last year.

They are planted in the shade and the dark purple one was in such deep shade that the flash went off on the camera as I snapped the picture. It looks so much more dramatic this way!

So many of the flowers of spring are shades of purple, but they will be making way for all the bright yellows and pinks of summer. The dependable marigolds, bright cosmos, 4 o'clocks and day lilies will all outshine them in brilliance, but spring flowers are the first, the ones that remind us that summer is really coming. The royal purples lead the way.